320 ESTIMATES OF MOUNTAINS IN ANTIQUITY. [CHAP.
distributing itself, since at one time it converges towards a single
crater, and at another time it is parted, and sometimes sends
forth lava-streams, at other times flames and smoke, and then
again ejects red-hot masses; and of necessity the underground
passages, too, correspond in their changes to these movements,
and so do the vents, the number of which at times increases
on the surface of the mountain all round. The account which
we received from those who had recently made the ascent was
as follows. They found at the top a level plain about twenty
stadia in circumference, enclosed by a ridge of ashes as high
as a wall, so that those who desired to advance into the plain
had to leap down; and in the midst of this they saw a hill of
ashen colour, in which respect it resembled the surface of the
plain, and over the hill a column of cloud rising steadily—for
there was no wind—to the height of about 200 feet, which they
compared to smoke. Two of their number ventured to advance
into the plain, but when the sand on which they trod became
increasingly warm and deep, they returned without having any
further account to give of what was to be seen than those had
who observed them from a distance. It was from some such
appearance, they thought, that many stories had arisen, especially
what was reported of Empedocles, that he leapt down into the
crater, and left there in evidence of his fate one of the bronze
sandals which he wore; for this was found outside at a short
distance from the rim of the crater, as if it had been thrown
up by the violence of the fire. But these must have been
fancies, for it was impossible either to approach the spot or to
view it, and they did not conceive that any object could even
be thrown down there owing to the opposing force of the winds
ascending from below, and to the heat which would naturally
meet them before they came near the crater's mouth; and if it
were cast down, it would be destroyed before it could be thrown
up again in the same condition. No doubt, there might be a
temporary cessation of the currents of air and jets of fire, when
the material which produced them failed; yet the change would
not be so great or continue so long, as to admit of a man's
approaching the place. The part of the coast nearest to Aetna is
that from the Sicilian strait to Catana, but the mountain also over-